Day 6- 28/08/13 Temples, jasmine and indian classical music!


Time seems to be passing so quickly and slowly at the same time, first it passes quickly as we are already in day 6 of out journey and slowly because by the time you get to bed and put your head on your pillow, the things you did in the morning seem to be days away. You meet so many people, learn so many new things and see so many extraordinary places that it becomes almost impossible to capture everything.

Today, we started off with yoga classes, which were calming and a good morning exercise to energise you for the whole day. The proccess was fun and Tharu, my room mate decided to finally join as I will go Bollywood dancing tomorrow to make it even. After that the normal routine, breakfast, shower, dressing up and off we went to visit a sikh temple, which was amazing in both its simplicity and complexity. Simplicity of colour scheme, but complexity of carvings and layout of the temple. Apparently, the inside temple is the starting idea for the red telephone boxes in London, which was the fact of the day bit.

Next of was Akshardham  is a Hindu temple complex in Delhi,India. Also referred to as Delhi Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham, the complex displays millennia of traditionalHindu and Indian culture, spirituality, and architecture. The building was inspired and developed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual head of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, whose 3,000 volunteers helped 7,000 artisans construct Akshardham. I had an awkward vibe about this place as it resembled in parts of it a theme park and not a spiritual home. The complex is immense and the main temple is carved in marble in minute detail. I was more impressed by the sikh temple that had the solemnity and the calmness of a worship place.

By this time it was late afternoon and we returned to the hotel, but as we had an hour to spare I went with my friends shopping in the market. That meant a lot of haggling and bargainging which was fun and reminded me of the markets back home. 

The last bit of the day was the classical music lesson and recital that ended the evening. It was a mesmerizing experience and we all had jasmine tied around our wrist, an indian tradition. Because the night was young and it was Krishna's birthday, we wanted to go to a temple celebration but ended up wandering the streets in search for an open cafe and just enjoying the conversation.

I find it funny that in a land so diverse and different I find so many things that remind me of home, but maybe it is the diversity what makes it so volatile and opens it to people in different  ways.

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